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12 Days of Ham – Leftover Ham Recipes

We all need a little inspiration now and then about how to deal with the bounty of ham after a big holiday or feast but frankly, my favorite part of any holiday (after the people, of course, and any dogs they might bring along) is the leftovers. 12 Days of Ham – Leftover Ham Recipes is full of inspiration!

Honey Mustard Glazed Ham

I love, love, love me some leftover ham, but that wasn’t always the case! I used to wrack my brains over what to make! Over the years, I’ve built up a whole repertoire of recipes & it’s fun sharing them. Yep. I started out with twelve – that’s why “12 Days of Ham.” And then I just keep adding, because you can’t have too many ways to refashion that leftover ham.

If there are recipes here that don’t specifically call for ham, they’re here because they are wonderful with a little ham in them and a few of these might call for another protein; know if they are here it’s because they are just as good with ham, instead.

Here’s how I take care of my ham (along with recipes, below) so it doesn’t languish in the fridge. Is it a universal rule that people are going to nibble on your ham and never rewrap it right? Well, this will solve all your problems. Leftover ham related problems, anyway! According to FoodSafety.gov, keep your leftover ham, well wrapped so it doesn’t dry out, for three to five days in the fridge and for best quality, one to two months in the freezer.

Before any holiday when you’re serving ham, don’t forget:

Wash & save containers or pick up cheapie disposables for yourself & your guests if they’ll be taking home leftovers.

Have plenty of Ziplocs in different sizes.

Have a sharpie or two for labeling.

If you want to maximize holiday savings, when you’re at the grocery store during the pre-holiday sales:

Have an idea of what you’ll make with the leftovers. Pick up those ingredients and have them on hand so you won’t have an extra run to the store.

Pick up an extra ham; they’re such an inexpensive per pound protein and keep for weeks in the fridge and can be frozen. If you have events coming up, Spring parties, showers, graduations you can’t go wrong with a ham and in the winter think about that ham for New Years, Superbowl or any other event.

See my links at the bottom of the page for How to Beat the Grocers. You’ll find items you should be looking for during specific holiday sales.

No brainer meals for ham leftovers are soup & sandwiches and ham can go in almost any breakfast or egg dish. Here are a few more ideas. I have to give a special shout-out to those Scalloped Potatoes!

Break the ham down and freeze in useable portions – make sure to label!

Those are some good ideas and more than a few are new to me. I’ve done the hot brown sandwich with turkey.

As you know I don’t LIKE raw tomato but I thought the texture would be camouflaged by the turkey, bacon, cheese sauce etc. … but like the princess and the pea in the fairly tale, I could tell it was there and I had to pull it out and then try to rebuild the open faced sandwich so it didn’t look like such a mess.

Welcome again, I will be pining this for sure as I am not that creative when it comes to ham. Already I love the split pea and ham soup, I make that quite often, the Cuban one sounds amazing too. Thanks for sharing all these wonderful ideas and recipes with us.

Thanks! I have to say that I love your style – with food and people! Your blog is so interactive and it’s fun to see all the ideas you come up with. There was a particular linguine & ham recipe I’m going to be trying out!

Thanks, Jennifer – that was really a nice compliment! I’m just shaking my head at your friend – must be true love, I guess…I’ve had a lot of people tell me they won’t (or someone in their family won’t) eat leftovers…I’m always looking for ways to HAVE leftovers! (As a matter of fact, I could probably feed my family just on what some people I know throw away…)

So great! I had a friend who said to me once, “My boyfriend won’t eat left overs.” I remember thinking, what a moron. And her too for going along with that. “So, you’re telling me, you have to cook him a fresh plate daily in the exact proportions of how hungry he is at that very moment?” To which she replied yes. I wondered but didn’t say, “And you’re still dating him, why?” So economical, that plan. I love your recipes. They are so smart!